


you make my heart shake

by carstairsbane



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Minor Clizzy, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-21
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:05:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carstairsbane/pseuds/carstairsbane
Summary: Simon asks Izzy and Clary to go on a double date with him and Jace.
Things don't go quite as expected but these things happen for a reason.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this](http://bewaretheides315.tumblr.com/post/150090985303/i-cant-actually-remember-ever-reading-something) tumblr post and a conversation with [Molly](http://capstevierogers.tumblr.com). Thanks to [Kareena](http://highwarlockkareena.tumblr.com) for beta'ing. Follow me on [tumblr](http://carstairsbane.tumblr.com).

Jace sat on his bed silently watching Simon pacing. Simon had originally come round to watch a movie but, for what felt like the hundredth time this month, Simon was moaning about being single.

“I haven’t been on a date for eight months, Jace. Eight!” Simon said, pausing in front of him. “What if no one ever wants to be with me?” Simon sighed dramatically, then resumed his pacing.

Jace resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Simon had been saying the same thing for weeks, convinced that he would be ‘forever alone’ (he’d sent Jace the meme - Jace had promptly deleted it). Jace knew at least one person who would be happy to be with Simon, but Jace wasn’t ready to tell his best friend that he had feelings for him. So, despite his better judgement, he decided to offer Simon some advice.

“Have you actually tried looking, Simon? You can’t expect everyone to come to you. You need to put yourself out there, see if you can get a date.”

Simon stopped his pacing and stared at Jace. He tilted his head slightly to one side, considering Jace’s words.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he said. After a moment he flopped onto the bed next to Jace. “So, what are we going to watch?”

***

It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that it all began. Simon was walking across campus when he saw a familiar face: Clary Fray, a girl he’d been good friends with in high school.

“Clary?” he said approaching her and her friend. “I haven’t seen you for ages. How are you?”

“Simon!” she responded, standing up to hug him. “I’m great! It’s so good to see you. This is Isabelle,” she added, gesturing to the other girl.

Simon turned his head to greet her. She was gorgeous and Simon stuttered out a nervous “hello” before turning back to Clary.

“I’ve got to run to class but we should catch up sometime. Here, I’ll give you my number.” Simon scribbled his number on a scrap of paper and passed it to Clary before running off to class, waving at the two girls as he went.

After that, Simon and Clary started talking more frequently. He’d seen her and Izzy a few more times and Clary had once bumped into him and Jace in a nearby coffee shop. Simon had brought up Izzy a couple of times before so when he saw the way Clary and Jace smiled warmly at each other he got an idea.

“How would you feel about going on a double date sometime? You, Izzy, me and Jace?” he asked.

Jace raised his eyebrows at Simon’s suggestion but said nothing. He wasn’t particularly interested in dating anyone (anyone but Simon at least) but he’d heard Simon talk about this Izzy enough times to know that his friend was into her.

“Sure, that sounds fun! I’ll speak to Izzy and text you to sort something out,” she said, before grabbing her coffee and leaving the shop.

***

They set the date for the following week and as the day approached Simon was growing more and more excited. Jace was still apprehensive but pretended that he was excited as well for Simon’s sake.

“...and you’ll love Clary,” Simon was saying. “I’m sure you two will get along.”

They’d agreed to meet outside a restaurant that wasn’t too far from any of them. It wasn’t too fancy since all four of them were working with a student budget, but it was a nice place and popular with young couples. Clary and Isabelle finally arrived, ten minutes late, holding hands.

“Hey guys! I’m so sorry we’re late. _Someone_ had about four outfit changes before we could leave,” Clary said, looking at Isabelle in fond exasperation.

“Oh don’t pretend you didn’t enjoy it!” Izzy retorted. Clary just grinned and placed a kiss on Izzy’s cheek before they turned and headed into the restaurant, still holding hands. Simon gave Jace a questioning look as they followed the girls inside.

“So, how long have you two been together?” Izzy asked Simon as the boys slid into the seats opposite her and Clary.

Jace immediately knew what had happened. Simon thought the date would be him and Izzy, and Jace and Clary, but the girls were clearly a couple and presumed they were too. He swallowed nervously and turned his head to look at Simon.

“Oh, well, we’re no-” Simon stumbled, realising his mistake.

“About six months, but we’ve been friends for ages,” Jace said, jumping in to save Simon from embarrassment. He placed his hand on top of Simon’s where it rested on the table. “Simon’s so caring and funny, and I mean, have you seen him?” Jace chuckled as Simon smiled nervously, tips of his ears turning red.

“Oh, it’s a similar story for us,” Clary said with a smile. “We were friends first and eventually it evolved into something more.”

The rest of the night continued without a hitch and conversation flowed easily between the four of them. Jace continued to compliment Simon, who eventually relaxed and starting playing along, taking Jace’s hand when they weren’t eating and looking at him in what he hoped was a loving way.

They stayed a while after the meal had finished, just talking and laughing with each other. As they spoke, Jace, without even thinking, slipped his arm around Simon’s shoulder making the other blush furiously and when Clary finished telling an embarrassing story from when she and Simon were younger, Jace laughed softly before placing a kiss on Simon’s cheek.

After they parted ways with the girls, Simon turned to look at Jace who suddenly felt nervous that maybe he’d taken things too far.

“Thanks for saving me back there. I should have realised that they were a couple, I feel so stupid,” Simon said, looking down sadly.

“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Jace said. “It was an honest mistake and it was still a good night, right?”

“Yeah, it was.” Simon looked up at Jace and grinned.

***

Jace and Simon bumped into Clary and Izzy a few days later and the girls thanked them again for a lovely night.

“We should do it again sometime,” Clary suggested. “It’s so nice to meet another couple who had been friends for ages before realising that the person they loved was right in front of them, don’t you think?”

Jace and Simon froze, turning to look at each other.

“Yeah, yeah it is,” Jace said, glancing down so he wouldn’t see Simon’s reaction.

They didn’t see the girls again for a while after that, but they stayed in touch. Simon and Clary’s friendship continued as if they hadn’t been apart for years, while Jace found that he got on really well with Izzy.

It was a few weeks before they all managed to meet up again, in which time Simon and Jace had decided that they were going to tell Clary and Izzy the truth about their relationship.

“...and so Jace jumped in to cover my embarrassment and I just went along with it.” Simon finished, having explained the mix up to the girls. “I’m so sorry we lied to you.”

Clary and Isabelle were staring at Simon and Jace with matching looks of disbelief. Neither of them could believe that Jace and Simon were not, and never had been, a couple. They’d thought that the way the boys had looked at each other made it so obvious that they were in love.

“It’s ok,” Clary said. “We obviously all interpreted the idea of a double date differently! So, no more double dates, but I’d still like it if we hung out as friends.” Simon and Jace laughed and readily agreed, glad that their friendship hadn’t been affected.

***

That weekend Jace went shopping with Izzy, so Simon went round to the girls’ flat to keep Clary company. They were enjoying their pizza when Clary brought up the double date.

“I know you said that you and Jace weren’t dating but I couldn’t help but notice the way you looked at him,” she said gently. “It’s the same look that I used to have after I realised I was in love with Izzy, full of hope that she felt the same way. _Are_ you in love with Jace? Because it’s ok if you are.”

“What? No. No, no. I’m not- I’m not in love with Jace.” Simon chuckled nervously and continued with the first thing that came to mind. “ _You’re_ in love with Jace!”

“Simon,” Clary said rolling her eyes, “I literally just told you that I’m in love with Izzy. I can promise you that I’m not in love with Jace.”

“Right, of course. Sorry. It’s just- I mean-,” Simon sighed and took a deep breath. “I’d never really thought about it until that night, on the date. Not properly anyway. I mean, obviously I can tell that he’s attractive and of course I know what an amazing person he is, he _is_ my friend after all. But I’d never truly thought about how my feelings towards him might have been more than friendship? I guess I didn’t want to think about what would happen, how he’d react. But then he was holding my hand and complimenting me and then he kissed my cheek! And I realised that I wouldn’t mind if he kept doing that, you know? That I wanted that, that maybe I wanted more than just friendship from him. And it’s been weeks now and every time I’m with him there’s this ache in my chest. But there’s no way he could feel the same, is there? But then it’s not like we’ve ever spoken about our feelings towards each other. I mean, why would we? Oh god, Clary. I think I really like him. What do I do?”

Clary let Simon talk, knowing that the best thing for him would be getting all his feelings out at once. She rubbed a hand soothingly on his back and waited for him to finish.

“I think that you should talk to him about this,” she said. “I know you’re scared that he doesn’t like you back, trust me I’ve been there, but you might be surprised by his response. I mean, I’ve seen the way he looks at you as well.”

***

Meanwhile, Jace and Izzy were also having a conversation about their double date.

“You’re into Simon aren’t you?” Izzy said bluntly. Jace raised his eyebrows and looked over at her.

“Yeah, I really am,” he said. “Is it that obvious?” he added after a moment.

“To everyone but him I think,” she responded. “But then I’ve been there, so I know what signs to look out for. How long have you felt that way?”

“A while. I’ve lost track, to be honest. It’s been worse since the date though what with pretending to be his boyfriend and having him play along with it.”

Izzy just looked at him sympathetically, then returned to inspecting the clothes rack in front of them. They moved around the store in silence for a while.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Izzy said eventually.

“Nothing. How can I? I don’t even know if he likes me back and our friendship’s way too important to me to risk it.” Jace sighed as Izzy picked up a red dress, moving to hold it up against herself in the mirror.

“Well, you know him better than anyone, but if you ask me I’d say it’s worth a shot.” Isabelle added the dress to the basket. “You never know what could happen.”

Half an hour later Izzy and Jace arrived back at the girls’ flat. Izzy paused with her key in the lock and looked back at Jace.

“Simon’s probably still here. Have you figured out what you’re going to do?” she said, opening the door before Jace could respond.

Clary looked up as the door opened and smiled when her girlfriend stepped inside. Simon smiled at Izzy and wondered hopefully if Jace had come back with her.

“How was shopping?” Clary asked.

“Great, I got a new dress that I know you’ll love,” Izzy said, winking at Clary. Izzy moved into the room, giving Jace room to enter.

Jace immediately looked over at Simon and Simon could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Jace was wearing what should have been just a simple grey hoodie, but he had the zip partly undone and it hugged his muscles in a way that Simon was pretty sure should be illegal.

They stared at each other for what felt like hours. Clary and Izzy stood by watching silently for a moment before Izzy turned to Clary.

“Do you think we should leave them alone for a bit to talk?” Izzy asked, just loudly enough for Jace to hear. Clary nodded, then grabbed Izzy’s hand and dragged her into the next room, shutting the door behind them.

“I need to talk to y-” Jace started once they were gone.

“You look amazing,” Simon said at the same time. Jace looked up in shock, a blush forming on his cheeks.

“Sorry. You said you needed to talk to me?” asked Simon.

“Uh, yeah. There’s something that I need to tell you, something that I’ve known for a while but I’ve been too afraid to tell you.” Jace kept his eyes focused on the floor, scared of looking at Simon in case he didn’t react how Jace hoped he would. “The thing is, I- I really like you, Simon. Like, in a more-than-friends way, and pretending to be with you on that double date made me realise how much I want to be with you for real and- and I-”

Jace stopped talking as Simon stood up and walked over to him. Simon grabbed one of Jace’s hands and laced their fingers together. Jace stared at their joined hands and when he looked back up, Simon was staring intensely at him.

“I really like you too, Jace,” Simon whispered. “In a more-than-friends way, I mean,” he clarified.

Jace could feel his heart pounding. Of all the things he’d imagined happening after admitting his feelings to Simon, that was the last thing he expected. He’d been so sure that Simon didn’t feel the same way, that telling Simon was the worst possible decision but he had fought off every instinct that told him not to do it, instead following Izzy’s advice to give it a shot. To hear Simon say that he liked Jace too was felt like a dream.

“Can I- can I kiss you?” Simon asked, eyes flitting between Jace’s eyes and lips.

“Yes,” Jace said breathlessly, hardly daring to believe that this was happening.

They both moved forward at the same time and when their lips touched Jace felt like his heart would burst out of his chest. Simon’s hand came up to grasp the front of Jace’s hoodie pulling him closer as Simon deepened the kiss.

They were interrupted by a coughing in the doorway. Izzy and Clary stood there with bemused looks on their faces.

“Glad as we are that you’ve sorting things out, we’d quite like our flat back before you get too carried away!” Clary said with a grin.

“Oh, right, of course. Sorry, we’ll just go,” Simon said apologetically.

“It’s ok, Simon. She’s joking. Mostly. We are happy for you though,” Izzy added.

“We’ll go. Thanks guys, for everything,” Jace said.

He turned to head towards the door and realised that Simon was still holding his hand. Jace looked over at him, smiling broadly as Simon’s cheeks grew steadily redder.

“Do you maybe want to come back to mine?” Jace asked.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” Simon grinned at Jace and allowed himself to be lead out of Clary and Izzy’s flat.


End file.
